Wednesday, October 15, 2014

AFT Awards: Best Directing for a Drama Series

This is the thirteenth category of the 8th Annual AFT Television Awards, my personal choices for the best in television during the 2013-2014 seasons. Finalists and semi-finalists are included to recognize more of the impressive work done on television today. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.

Best Directing for a Drama Series


Last year’s nominees: A Mixture of Madness (Banshee), Two Imposters (Boardwalk Empire), Chapter 4 (House of Cards), Relevance (Person of Interest), Laying Pipe (Sons of Anarchy)

Emmy nominees: Farewell Daddy Blues (Boardwalk Empire), Felina (Breaking Bad), Episode 1 (Downton Abbey), The Watchers on the Wall (Game of Thrones), Chapter 14 (House of Cards), Who Goes There (True Detective)

Semi-finalists: Pilot (The After), Bloodlines (Banshee), The Beetle (The Bridge), Chapter 17 (House of Cards), Chapter 18 (House of Cards), A Murder of Crowes (Justified), Wrong Roads (Justified), The Crossing (Person of Interest), RAM (Person of Interest), A Mouth is a Mouth (Ray Donovan), The Legend of Bonnie and Carl (Shameless), Hunag Wu (Sons of Anarchy), John 8:32 (Sons of Anarchy)

Finalists: Take the Ride, Pay the Toll (The Bridge), Same Exactly (Ray Donovan), Ozymandias (Breaking Bad), A Mother's Work (Sons of Anarchy), Hitting the Fan (The Good Wife)

The nominees:

You Are My Sunshine (Sons of Anarchy)
All Shot to Hell (Justified)
4C (Person of Interest)
Pilot (Almost Human)

FX turned in two very fine and mesmerizing hours of television that transformed the landscapes of its shows, in a devastating dramatic fashion in the first and with plenty of exciting and tense action in the second. “4C” was a completely captivating installment filled with a sense of adventure and closed-quarters thrills. Though it went downhill almost immediately afterward, the pilot episode of FOX’s future-set series was innovative and enthralling.

The winner:

It didn’t get as much buzz as the next episode, the series finale, but Granite State (Breaking Bad) was a nuanced, mesmerizing hour that examined its protagonist at the end of his road, given an unexpected and unrecognizable way out.

Next up: Best Writing for a Drama Series

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